Settlement changes in the oases - Non-destructive survey in the eastern Kugitang Piedmont (Uzbekistan)
Abstract
The paper presents the archaeological field survey conducted in the oases in south Uzbekistan during the last three years (2015-2017) in the Paskhurt Basin in the eastern Peidmont of the Kugitang mountains. The aim of the research was to reconstruct the settlement dynamic and its tendency based on the newly collected archaeological sources gained in the up until today inhabited oases.
The field survey was conducted in five selected oases (Zarabag, Karabag, Kampyrtepa, Maydon and Goz) over an area of ca. 1200 ha. 382 areas were observed - 277 polygons with archaeological finds and 105 areas with no results. Attention was also placed on the water sources being an indispensable prerequisite for the settlements.
Altogether 45 springs were detected and moreover in two oases (Zarabag and Goz) the remains of underground water systems (karezes) were observed. Settlement evidence was recognized from the Bronze Age till the Iron Age.
They were followed by a gap in settlement which lasted till the end of the 1st century. Again, the evidence of human activities appear in the Late Kushan Period and with changing intensity they stretch up to the present day.